Unreleased Mac Mini Spotted in Latest Studio Display Firmware

[deevey]

I wouldn't be surprised to see a Mac mini with the footprint of the Apple TV. There is a lot of wasted space in the current M1 Mini.

I said the same thing a couple of months ago when all the rumors about the new mini were kicking about. Would be pretty awesome for server farms too. You could fit 4x ATV size units in the same rack-space as one current mini.

The mini really hasn't changed in 12 years now so it'd be nice to see a balls-out facelift, but somehow I think they'll stick to the older design so they can forgo external PSU's

 

[TiggrToo]

But wouldn't the target market for an Ultra chip be more interested in the multi-core performance anyway?

Exactly. The sort of things you need a Pro, Max or Ultra are not gonna be single core bound.

 

[now i see it]

iPhone 2022 SE launched 6-7 months after the iPhone 13 launch.
Soooo next Mac mini will launch 6-7 months after the Mac Studio did (October 2022). Ha!

 

[EugW]

One of the main purposes of Apple making its own Silicon is to have quick upgrade periods, and not be stuck waiting an extra year+ on Intel delays.

I'm not convinced that is Apple's main goal with Apple Silicon. It's about having complete control over the design, and it's about cost. Granted, it's also about having the ability to choose whatever foundry has the best process (at reasonable cost) but I'd guess that is a secondary goal.

The mini really hasn't changed in 12 years now so it'd be nice to see a balls-out facelift, but somehow I think they'll stick to the older design so they can forgo external PSU's

Agreed, and that in fact was what I was predicting previously. However, the release of the Mac Studio casts doubt on this, because it shares a very similar bottom half form factor with the old Mac mini.

 

[nottorp]

For the love of god, don't limit it to 16 GB!!!!

That's not going to happen, I think. A good part of the incentives to spend money on a Studio would be gone.

 

[EugW]

That's not going to happen, I think. A good part of the incentives to spend money on a Studio would be gone.

The Mac mini 2022 being limited to 16 GB is what some geeks that are overprotective of their Mac Studio purchases might believe.

32 GB is a very reasonable ask for the Macmini10,x.

 

[mabhatter]

we know M2 won't be as good as M1 Max for sure. Although there's not many M1 Pro models out there so maybe M2 is enough of a boost to compete with that? Or at least close enough it would overlap SKUs?

 

[dandeco]

Hmm, if that's the case, I may hold off on the purchase of a Mac Studio with M1 Max and wait until if a Mac Mini with the M1 Pro chip indeed comes out, and use THAT to replace my 2012 quad-core i7 Mac Mini. Still gonna configure it with 32 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD.

 

[giggles]

MacMini1,1 - Intel "Yonah"
MacMini2,1 - Intel "Merom"
MacMini3,1 - Intel "Penryn"
MacMini4,1 - still Intel "Penryn" but new case design
MacMini5,1 - Intel "Sandy Bridge" dual core
MacMini5,3 - Intel "Sandy Bridge" quad core
MacMini6,1 - Intel "Ivy Bridge" dual core
MacMini6,2 - Intel "Ivy Bridge" quad core
MacMini7,1 - Intel "Haswell"
MacMini8,1 - Intel "Coffee Lake"
MacMini9,1 - Apple "Firestorm/Icestorm Cores" quad P-Cores (M1)

MacMini9,2 - Apple "Firestorm/Icestorm Cores" hexa/octa P-Cores (M1 Pro)

MacMini10,1 - Apple "Avalanche/Blizzard Cores" quad P-Cores (M2)

or

MacMini10,1 - still Apple "Firestorm/Icestorm Cores" but new case design


There's track record for both naming conventions. (i.e. new architecture OR new case with old architecture)

 

[nylonsteel]

i'm in if its gonna be a m2 mac mini

 

[blairh]

Really surprised to see it come at WWDC. Honestly thought we'd see all M2 devices at the October event.

 

[Random_Matt]

Mini is an entry product, enough of these pro comments. M2 will replace the M1 and then the same will occur with the non-pro laptops.

 

[EugW]

Really surprised to see it come at WWDC. Honestly thought we'd see all M2 devices at the October event.

No dates mentioned in the leak, so no guarantees for WWDC, although it would good if it did get released at WWDC because then it may be eligible for the Back-To-School promotion.

Mini is an entry product, enough of these pro comments. M2 will replace the M1 and then the same will occur with the non-pro laptops.

Apple has often sold higher end Mac minis. In fact, they still do right now, although it's now a legacy product.

 

[Random_Matt]

No dates mentioned in the leak, so no guarantees for WWDC, although it would good if it did get released at WWDC because then it may be eligible for the Back-To-School promotion.


Apple has often sold higher end Mac minis. In fact, they still do right now, although it's now a legacy product.

If you want to call it high end. Maybe I'm wrong, but do not see the mini getting any pro versions.

 

[Bug-Creator]

Apple has often sold higher end Mac minis.

At times when they didn't have another headless desktop below the MacPro.

IMO the Studio is what the SpaceGrey Minis should have been all along. Some desktop class Intel CPU with a proper Radeon GPU and enough cooling to keep them running.
And yes those would have been priced similar to the Studio.

 

[EugW]

If you want to call it high end. Maybe I'm wrong, but do not see the mini getting any pro versions.

At times when they didn't have another headless desktop below the MacPro.

IMO the Studio is what the SpaceGrey Minis should have been all along. Some desktop class Intel CPU with a proper Radeon GPU and enough cooling to keep them running.
And yes those would have been priced similar to the Studio.

You guys are mentioning predictions and wishes.

I was mentioning what Apple actually had previously released in the real world. That doesn't mean they're going to do the same going forward, but nonetheless, that is Apple's actual history.

 

[opeter]

Or Apple could just quietly discontinue the Intel Mac Mini... but I'd bet on PRO much more than I would bet on that.

Thats is what I think. But let's wait and see how the things go...

 

[pers0n]

I dont see Apple putting out a M2 this year. The Mac Pro will be some other kind of chip X1 or whatever they call it.

Mac mini could be redesigned, but they wont let it be better than the Studio. I would really like to see a Mac Mini supporting 3 monitors by default with 32gb RAM and decent amount of ports, but I know it won't happen.

I think the only reason they keep the Intel is because they need to clear out the stock and provide a few devs more time to complete their transition before Apple has done theirs. They gave people a 2yr timeline, it will be removed as soon as the last Silicon machine is relased (the Pro).

I doubt they will redesign the Mac Mini this year, it already has the new chip, so why bother. I dont see them having a higher end Mac Mini, to them, that is the Studio.

And to that point, I feel like Pro is a bad name, because they ruined it with their non-Pro offers in the past. Just call it the Mac Enterprise.

 

[ArrayDecay]

Release it, damn you!

 

[EugW]

I think the only reason they keep the Intel is because they need to clear out the stock

No, that doesn't make much sense.

and provide a few devs more time to complete their transition before Apple has done theirs.

This is a real reason, although not so much devs but actual real world customers with a mission critical Intel workflow.

BTW, a discontinuation date of 2022 for the Intel Mac mini with a 5-year support cycle means that Apple will have proper Intel support until at least 2027.

 

[paradox00]

yeah, I’m still not on the M2 bandwagon. I don’t see why they would need to move to the next version already.

The M1 doesn’t lead in single core performance (performance per watt is still another story). This means that the M1 Pro/Max/Ultra also don’t lead in single core performance. If Apple wants better single core performance, they have to start moving to M2 based chips. Adding more cores doesn’t change that. The M1 has been out for a year and a half already. Will be two years in late fall. I don’t know why you think releasing the M2 this year wouldn’t make sense.

 

[paradox00]

My understanding from the recent peek performance event was that the last M1 based product to come would be the Mac Pro to complete the Apple Silicon transition.

Then the M2 cycle would begin after the Mac Pro unveiling around WWDC.

There’s no indication or rule that the first Apple Silicon Mac Pro will feature a processor with M1 cores. It may not even follow the M# naming convention.

 

[EugW]

The M1 doesn’t lead in single core performance (performance per watt is still another story). This means that the M1 Pro/Max/Ultra also don’t lead in single core performance. If Apple wants better single core performance, they have to start moving to M2 based chips. Adding more cores doesn’t change that. The M1 has been out for a year and a half already. Will be two years in late fall. I don’t know why you think releasing the M2 this year wouldn’t make sense.

Yeah, it seems people may be forgetting M1 is two years old. If M2 series doesn't come out in 2022 then it is a bit late IMO, although I could see either mid to late 2022 or else early 2023, the latter due to various factors including the pandemic and chip shortages.

However, this Macmini10,1 listing makes me guess 2022 now. It would be unusual for the listing to show up in the OS (nearly) a full year before a new Mac mini release. (I'm leaning toward it being M2 and not M1 Pro, although my preference would be anything with more ports like a hypothetical M1 Pro Mac mini.)

There’s no indication or rule that the first Apple Silicon Mac Pro will feature a processor with M1 cores. It may not even follow the M# naming convention.

Yeah, the naming might be something else entirely.

BTW, I'd love to see them move away from words like Ultra and Extreme.

 

[alien3dx]

You mus be new in the computer world if you expect 2x the performance in M2 over M1.

not new . we play computer since 80286 . and using all sort of proc intel x86 , itanium ,ryzen .

 

[macsteve27]

Mini is an entry product, enough of these pro comments. M2 will replace the M1 and then the same will occur with the non-pro laptops.

I think the reason that so many people are posting about an M1 Pro option for the mini is that there is just no viable "pro-sumer" option right now for Apple Silicon desktops. I think Apple knows that the M1 Pro is the sweet spot between entry-level consumer (M1 mini, M1 24" iMac) and professional (M1 Max/Ultra Mac Studio, Mac Pro) and they seem content to abuse this for some time. Since the high-end 27" iMac is discontinued for the foreseeable future, the high-end intel mac mini is the only desktop product listed on apple's website that an M1 Pro could potentially slot into.

For most people the M1 is enough, but for those who need extra ram (at least 32GB) and want a little more GPU oomph including myself have no desktop options. For my specific use case this is for large Sketch and Adobe CC files that are common in my workflow. I don't need the M1 Max which IMO is much more geared towards video editing professionals to really get full use out of the CPU and GPU, not to mention the price tag of the Mac Studio + Mac Studio Display is a whopping $3600 for the base models.

Crossing my fingers for a Mac Mini (or iMac) with the M1/M2 Pro. But I also don't disagree with you that Apple may draw this out to try to upsell as many people as possible on the Mac Studio. Definitely leaving a bad taste in my mouth in the process.